Peggy Campolo Carrier Pigeon Award Recipients
Peggy Campolo, who we lovingly refer to as our Patron Saint, was the inspiring force behind the creation of Open Door Community Church. As a friend of Pastor Randy, she counseled him when he was fired from his job as an associate pastor at a local church because he chose to be honest about his long time loving relationship with his spouse, Gary. At the time, Pastor Randy felt he had nowhere to go where he would be welcomed in to worship. Peggy told him that if he felt that way, there must be many more people who felt that way as well. She suggested the idea of founding a church where everyone would be welcome, and the seed for Open Door Community Church was planted.
Peggy has long preached her ministry of inclusiveness, and she has worked hard to bridge the gap between the misunderstood and the misinformed.
As Open Door Community Church approached its 2007 Annual Fall Conference, we decided to honor Peggy's work with an award that would not only honor her, but would, in her name, honor the work of someone every year who exemplifies her ideals of inclusiveness and equality.
Pastor Randy presents the inaugural 2007 award to Peggy Campolo.
Peggy Campolo, wife of Dr. Tony Campolo and mother of Bart Campolo, is an evangelical Christian who challenges evangelical churches to re-think their stance against gay and lesbian people. A highly-visible advocate for the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered people within the church, Peggy is a member of PFLAG and Evangelicals Concerned and serves on the council of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists. She is currently a member of Central Baptist Church in Wayne, Pennsylvania—one of two "Welcoming and Affirming" congregations in the Commonwealth. In a recent Associated Baptist Press article, she wrote: "I am a committed Baptist who has worked within the church of Jesus Christ for more than 20 years to foster the understanding and acceptance of my gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender sisters and brothers... I can personally testify to the anguish gay people feel when rejected by church and family because of who they are. I have also witnessed the joy of the many gay people I know who have found church homes where they are loved and accepted."
A graduate of Eastern University, Peggy speaks often to church and campus groups around the country. She is a frequent guest speaker at Open Door Community Church in Arkansas, an Welcoming and Affirming church that she encouraged friend Pastor Randy McCain to establish. In 2007, the Open Door Community Church created The Peggy Campolo Carrier Pigeon Award to be given annually at the church's fall conference in recognition of advocacy for GLBT people of faith in Christ . Peggy is also a writer and editor, contributing to books such as Homosexuality and Christian Faith-Questions on Conscience for the Churches and Reasoning Together: A Conversation on Homosexuality released in late October 2008.
Peggy Campolo presents the 2008 award to Dave Ferrell.
David Ferrell is a father of a gay son and friend of Open Door Community Church. Dave and his wife Beck live in San Antonio, Texas. To learn of this amazing father's transformation, please read his testimony.
Peggy Campolo presents the 2009 award to Jay Bakker.
Jay Bakker grew up with a theme park for a playground, watched his parents' evangelistic empire self-destruct, turned to drink and drugs as a teen, sobered up in his 20s, and became a pastor to punk-rockers and skate-boarders. Born and raised when Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were at the height of their TV ministry, Jay -- then known as Jamie -- spent much of his childhood on the set of their "PTL" show or at their Heritage USA religious resort. Scandal ended his parents' ministries in the 1980s, and dark, angry years ensued for the boy. In the 1990s he hooked up with Revolution, an edgy ministry bringing conservative Christian beliefs into dialogue with punk, skater and other subcultures. Pierced and tattooed, he has served with Revolution in Phoenix, Atlanta, and New York City, where in 2006 he started a small congregation in a Brooklyn barroom, emphasizing Jesus's unconditional love. He was featured in a reality series, "One Punk Under God," on the Sundance Channel in late 2006 and early 2007.
His 2001 autobiography is titled Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows.